Fate
by black-ice-alchemist
Summary: Sasuke's been wounded. Itachi finds him. Out of what affection he has for the boy, he heals him using an advanced jutsu. but the jutsu has a string attached. A psychic bond and physical atraction between the user and the recipient. UCHIHACEST! yaoi.
1. Prolouge

_**So, I apologize for the long period of…nothing. I have had an incredible bout of writer's block. It's no excuse, though. Anyway, I got off my lazy ass and…cringed. My writing on this story is HORRIBLE! Did I not know how to describe something? I'm slightly ashamed. So, as therapeutic recovery for both me and this poor, neglected story, I'm editing all the chapters. Keep your fingers crossed, people, that these will be better than the original.**_

_**Anyway, please enjoy the newly reborn Fate. **_

The night was completely dark. Thick, eerie clouds encompassed the moon, leaving none of its usual cool light on the sleepy ground. Following their pale mother, the stars also hid, as if trying to escape the one traveling below them.

There was an unnatural sort of silence that seemed to scream into itself. There was no crunch of leaves or grass as the lone figure trudged along. He breathed too softly to hear, and even his clothing made no sound as it rubbed against itself.

Sasuke Uchiha was as quiet as a ghost as he made his way toward the Sound Village, which had recently become his new home. His lifeless eyes of the darkest coal stared unseeingly ahead of him, distracted in his odd lack of thought. His mind was blank, trying block out the details of what he'd just allowed himself to do. Trying to protect his fragile from the pure inhumanity of the truth. Sasuke, to his horror, and, unfortunately his sick satisfaction, had killed another human being for the first time that evening.

Suddenly the silence that accompanied Sasuke was broken, and he stopped, his mind racing to try and pinpoint exactly what that sound was. It happened again, and he understood. The sound of fragile leaves crunching came somewhere from the right of him. He spun to face that direction just in time to see several shadowy figures emerge from the trees. Black cloaks and white masks that resembled an animal. Anbu from one village or another. Which one didn't matter, but the fact that they had surrounded him completely within the few seconds it had taken for him to realize his presence certainly did.

The leader of the anbu, what seemed to be a man that hid his face with a Tiger mask, stepped forward. "Sasuke Uchiha," he said, asking for confirmation with his tone. When he received none from the stoic raven, he leaped forward, katana raised to strike. There was a loud clank of metal hitting metal as the Uchiha slid his own katana from its sheath on his back to parry the attack. The two began to fight, moving so precisely that it seemed choreographed, like a deadly dance. One misstep and someone would be dead.

Sasuke ducked under a slash that was meant for his head. Instead, the blade became lodged in the tree behind him with a heavy _**thunk**_. He silently thanked his luck, and took the opportunity to kick upward, his foot connecting with the underside of the masked man's chin. He flew backward, and a loud _**CRACK **_resonated through the clearing as the side of his head hit a rock that was protruding from the ground not far away.

After a moment of stunned silence on the black op's part, another anbu, this one with a bird's mask, walked over to Tiger Mask. He bent down and placed two fingers over the vein in Tiger Mask's neck. "…He's dead…" he murmured.

Those two words were like a gun marking the start of a marathon. Everything went to hell. The knowledge that their leader was so horribly murdered brought out a rage throughout the remaining Anbu, and they charged toward Sasuke, each fully intending to bring back his head to their village.

Outwardly Sasuke remained calm, but two words kept running through his tired mind.

'_Oh shit…'_

Sasuke's opponent, a burly man with the mask of a bear, brought his monstrously large sword high above him, intending to skewer the young man before him. However, in doing so, he left himself wide open to attack. Sasuke thrust his katana upward, straight into the man's chest.

The Anbu made a few gurgling noises, and then fell. 'This was easier than I thought it'd be,' Sasuke thought to himself. He fought down the wave of nausea that he got after taking a life, and tore off a piece of the dead Anbu's cloak to use to wipe off his precious katana. He then turned to survey the damage done.

The early morning light was beginning to seep through the thinning clouds, and allowed Sasuke to see. Red stained the ground. The grass, the trees, even his formerly white clothing. Bodies littered the ground. It looked like something you would see in hell.

Sasuke shook his head, allowing himself to be a sad, horrified teenager for just a moment. Then, mask back in place, he looked blankly up into the sky. "It's…all for _**you,**_ aniiki…"

Sasuke's body jolted in shock and pain suddenly, and with wide eyes he slowly looked down. Protruding from his chest was the tip of a sword, dripping with his own blood. The sword had missed his heart, but his current condition, the wound would be fatal. He sluggishly turned his head to look behind him and see who his killer would be.

It was the bear man he'd just defeated. The man had used his last bit of life and energy to reach up and stab him from behind. "If…" he began hoarsely, "If we must…go to hell… then we're taking you with us…" He yanked the katana from the Uchiha's back, fell forward, dead.

Sasuke stared down at the hole in his chest, horrified. "But, I haven't…reached my goal! I can't…" his words left off and he fell backward in what seemed to be slow motion. He hit the ground painfully, and watched the sky for a moment. "I can't…die…yet…" His voice trailed off as his eyes began to close.

**End.**

_**A/N: I hope you enjoyed Fate 2.0's prologue. Please tell me if this is better than the original, I would really appreciate it. Also, I reaaaalllyyyy need a beta, if anyone would be interested. **_

_**I would again like to apologize for my over the top absence. I can't say that it won't happen again, since I'm sort of lazy and am prone to writer's block. But I do promise to try not to fall back into my funk again. I don't want to dissapoint you all.**_

_**Thank you for faithfully sticking with me, and I'll have chapter two's rewrite up soon. I promise.**_

_**~Black-ice-alchemist**_


	2. Chapter 1: healing

_**A/N: wow, I got more replies than I ever thought I would! THANKS! Because you all asked me, I will continue the fic (YAY!)**_

_**Review replies:**_

_**Perfect Dreamer- Thanks! I reviewed, just for you! …do I get a cookie? Btw, guess what? You are my first EVER reviewer on ! –Glomp- THANK YOU SO MUCH!**_

_**Ethel: yeah…um, sorry about that XD. I've never been good at fighting scenes…I'll try to do one of two things. 1)do a bit of studying on fighting so I can write it better, or 2)get a co writer and have them help me with those scenes. How does that sound? ^^ Thanks so much for reading, and here's the next chapter! **_

_**Froggychick12: Heh, um…I take it you reeeeeeeaaaaally like Sasuke? Nah, I can't let him die, that'd ruin the purpose of the whole story! XD lol, thanks for reviewing. You people make my day, y'know? **_

_**Sora keyblader: heh, ok ok…pushy people! Lol :D here's your chapter.**_

_**Bothergirl99: um…thanks? I will, the following chapter is proof!**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Master kishimoto just doesn't seem to want to give him up…I've even offered him a million dollars! *cries***_

_**ONWARD, TO THE STORY!**_

"Itachi-san, do you smell that?" Itachi Uchiha stared blankly at his shark-like companion. "Kisame," he began in a world-weary voice, "I'm not part fish like you are. My sense of smell isn't as efficient as yours."

Kisame smiled sheepishly and ran his hand through his freakishly colored hair. "Heh, sorry. I smell blood in the distance. Lots of it." Itachi raised an eyebrow, the only indication of his minor curiosity. "You want to check it out, correct?" Kisame nodded eagerly. His overwhelming nosiness had kicked in.

Itachi sighed. "Fine, lead the way…" They packed up their camp (Which really only consisted of their cloaks to sleep on, and their packs.) and, with Kisame in the lead, they headed towards the smell of blood.

----

Itachi, though no one looking at him could tell, was somewhat impressed. Someone had done a LOT of damage. The Uchiha might not have been able to smell the blood before, but he sure as hell could now! The irony-salt sort of stench that was uniquely blood was everywhere. It was overpowering, and any normal person would've vomited by now…but, of course, Itachi Uchiha couldn't exactly be considered a 'normal' person.

Itachi studied the bodies that littered the ground. Each and every one of them were wearing an anbu mask. Someone powerful had done this. His eyes wandered until…his gaze was stopped dead, trained on a certain body. His heart dropped as he recognized the familiar features. Spiky, silky black hair. White kimono-ish clothing, though now thoroughly stained red. Katana clenched in the left fist.

Sasuke.

Now, despite the way he tried to make everyone else see him, Itachi wasn't as much of a cold, calculating person as people thought him to be. He had the ability to feel emotions. It's just that he preferred not to stamp them on his face for others to see like most people did.

He cared for his younger brother, even though he pretended not to. Sasuke was the only person who'd ever managed to wiggle his way into the older Uchiha's iced over heart. Trying to deny that fact to himself would be like deciding not to breathe.

Itachi activated his sharingan, and almost, ALMOST sighed in relief. There was still chakra moving within the boy, although faint. This meant Sasuke was still alive, but barely.

Itachi moved over and crouched down beside the boy. "hey, Itachi," his partner said from behind him, "Isn't that your little brother?" Not looking at the fish-man, Itachi held up two fingers in a 'shh' motion. His mind was sifting through any medic jutsu he knew. The raven only knew the basics, which unfortunately wouldn't be enough to heal someone this close to death.

Finally, he thought of one, but immediately discarded the idea. He couldn't use THAT jutsu, not on his own brother…

Itachi's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a faint moan, and looked down at his otouto. Sasuke was fading fast…Itachi came to a decision. "Kisame," he barked in a commanding sort of tone, "Keep lookout for any danger. I'm not going to be much help for awhile…"

Not waiting for a reply, Itachi quickly made a few hand signs for the jutsu, and whispered, "Art of Telepathic Attraction." (_**A/N:corny name, if someone has a better idea, please tell me**_) He gently touched two fingers to his brother's shoulder. A flash of reddish-colored light temporarily blinded him, and he had to blink a few times before he could see again. At the spot where he'd poked Sasuke, a blood red full moon, partially covered by a tiny cloud, was marked into his skin. (_**A/N: another curse mark for Sasuke!)**_

Itachi doubled over as the jutsu took effect. There were a few strings attached to the jutsu he'd just used…If a person is near death, the jutsu would be used to heal them. It did so by connecting the user and the recipient in a way. Some of the user's 'life force' is transferred to the recipient. This usually leaves the user chakra deprived, weak, and vulnerable. The ability to 'hear' the other thoughts when allowed. (well, in reality, only the user has the ability to 'allow'. The user can hear the recipient's thoughts whenever they feel like it.) The ability to sense the other's emotions (again, only the user holds it freely.) And also…it creates sort of a physical…attraction.

Itachi gasped in agony. He could feel Sasuke's pain as if his wounds were actually inflicted on the elder instead. Shakily he reached over and ran his fingers gently though the younger Uchiha's silky hair. "You'll be ok…I promise." He then fell into a deep sleep to let the jutsu heal his precious brother.

_End chapter one._

_**A/N: um…yeah, Itachi's pretty OOC…but then again, for the two to end up together, he'd HAVE to be, ya know? **_

_**Again, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! When I got my first one (Perfect Dream's) I felt like I was high on happiness! Please continue reviewing!**_

_**OH, and any criticism, as long as it's kept friendly (No flames, please) is not only welcome, but EXTREMELY appreciated.**_

_**And I'm looking for a cowriter to help with fight scenes! THANKS. Ja ne!**_


	3. Chapter 2: Awakening

_**A/N: I am soooo sorry that I haven't posted recently! I've got so much crap going on right now…tae kwan do classes, school (freshman year…-groan-), language lessons, and dealing with my new little cousin… along with chores. By the time I'm done, I feel like I'm gonna die from exhaustion! (not that it's really an excuse…)**_

_**Anyway, one of my reviewers basically gave me a cyber kick to the ass (with her kindness), so I decided to start typing. So, all of you should bow down before **__eggIorru __**for unconsciously getting me up off mah lazeh bum and back in action!!! **_

_**By the way, just so everyone knows, right now Itachi only loves Sasuke like a brother. And sasuke… he hates him, yes, but only as a way to…bury…his own brotherly love. At this point there are no romantic feelings between the two. I believe that it would be cheating on my part to make them already like each other in that way. It's like saying that I don't care enough about this story to go through the trouble of creating the feelings myself, which is a complete lie. My stories are my children, and my readers are my children's best friends. (lol funny way of putting it, but still true) Therefore I care for both. You See?**_

_**Review Replies:**_

_**EggIorru: Thanks! …Ambiguity? Man, where's my dictionary…My ego just took a hit, because I'm normally considered a walking dictionary. …but I have no clue what ambiguity means!!! T_T ah well I'll find out.**_

_**Wow! We had basically the same idea! Great minds, ne? I'm not really a big fan of the 'we knew we were in love since I was four' (as you labeled it ^_^) stories either. Some of them can be interesting, but….it tends to get overly repetitive… at times.**_

_**You should NEVER be afraid to critique my work! As long as it's not, "your story sucks!" without even giving me a reason as to why, I'll probably take it! And love it! And probably use it!**_

_**But, um…I have a certain path I want to take this story down, and having Sasuke wake up in the middle of it all doesn't exactly fit in with my plans… But you DID give me some ideas! :D**_

_**Anyway, hell will freeze over before I refuse kindly given advise such as yours! I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. As a matter of fact, I would love it if you would help me with this story! **_

…_**oh, and thanks about the jutsu.**_

_**A Single Fragile Rose: thanksies! I did, see? –points excitedly to the chapter below- lol.**_

_**Perfect Dreams: Lol. You ARE special! In the head! (haha just joking…) meh heh heh…Itachi? A stalker? Nah….not him! –innocent look- I updated!!! …or else WHAT?**_

_**Ethal: I know it's short! I'm TRYING to make my chapters longer…thanks for the jutsu thingy! …About the parentheses thingy, it's because I'm retarded! I typed that chapter at some time around 4:00 am… so yeah. You're not annoying, silly!**_

_**Kaline Reine: -sniff- Only decent? Ah, you're right, it's not extremely good. BUT! I'm still proud of it, and hey, decent's better than sucky! So thanks! I know it's confusing, I'll try to do better. And thanks for the luck, I'm gonna need it!**_

_**Jessica-uchiha123: wow, short and to the point, ne? Thanks, I'm glad you love it! ^_^**_

_**Mysterious Daughter of Sparda: thank you, oh mysterious one! **_

_**Sasukes dark angel: Thanks! Um, I've sort of enlisted eggirrou's help already…-sweatdrop- but if you want, when I start another fic, I'll gladly ask for your help! Thanks for the offer!!! **_

_**-**_

_**Thanks to anyone who reads this, you guys rock!**_

_**Oh, and I want to see who reads these A/Ns, so if you've read it, post 'bananna mcmuffin' in a review, please! (DON'T ASK WHERE I GOT THAT. YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW _)**_

_**Btw if I use the 'thinking' things, but with italic, like this: **__'thinking'__**, then it means the person's 'inner voice' is talking.**_

_**Heh…anyway, on with the story…**_

_**Oh wait! I forgot! Disclaimer time!  
I don't own naruto…wish I did…but my fairy godmother's MIA…probably out getting drunk with Tsunade –cries-…so my wish is still pending.**_

Itachi woke before his brother, for which he was grateful. As much as he wanted to stay and make sure that the boy was ok, he and Kisame needed to leave before Sasuke woke up. The boy might no longer be in danger of dying, but he was still WAY below 100% and the LAST thing he needed was for his wounds to reopen as he charged at his older brother.

Because Itachi was still somewhat weak from the effects of the jutsu, Kisame had to help him up off of the ground. …And, of course, the fishy man just COULDN'T be kind enough to let the raven leave some of his dignity intact. Oh, no, he had to ridicule the poor guy to death about it!!!

Itachi, thinking all the while about the many ways to cook sharks, (he was SERIOUSLY thinking about making shark fin soup for dinner, I mean, it'd get rid of at least ONE of the annoyances in his life…right?) struggled to pull Sasuke up into his arms. When he was sure he wouldn't accidently drop the boy in his moment of weakness, he slowly ambled his way over to a cave that was located nearby. "Kisame," he mumbled just loud enough that his partner could hear him, "Check to make sure that there isn't anything already living inside."

….

Something DID already reside inside the cave. After a few minutes, and a LOT of noise, Kisame came out smelling TERRIBLE, and grumbling loudly to himself. "…Stupid skunk, just doesn't know when to quit…I'm NEVER gonna be able to get the stinking smell out…HEY! STOP MOCKING ME, UCHIHA!!!" He shouted that last part, glaring at said Uchiha, who was currently smirking at him, making a little show of shifting Sasuke to one arm so he could cover his nose from the smell. (_**A/N: wow, THAT'S OOC… please forgive me, it's necessary, and a part of my writing style!) **_"Anyway," the fish continued, "I took care of the stinkbag…you owe me for this…stupid antisocial prick…"

With a nod of his head, (which was probably the closest that Kisame would ever get to receiving a 'thank you' from him) Itachi made his way gracefully –despite the weariness left over- to the entrance of the cave that his partner had worked so hard to commandeer. Inside there was a large flat rock next to one of the cave walls. Perfect. He moved over to it and gently laid Sasuke onto it, moving him around a bit until he was in a position that Itachi thought would be decently comfortable. (well…as comfortable as was possible for someone who was sleeping on a giant, hard, cold ROCK.) Then, without a word, the two Akatsuki partners disappeared.

----

Sasuke woke a while later, and sat up slowly, feeling extremely confused. He blinked away the sleepy blurriness that clouded his vision and let his gaze trace the 'walls' of his current residence. '…where the hell am I?! A cave? How'd I get here? And…Aren't I supposed to be dead?!' He looked down at his chest, where he expected to see a gaping wound and extensive amounts of blood flowing freely from it. Um…nope. There was a noticeable scar, but no wound. It was as if it had been allowed to heal for WEEKS!!!

NOW Sasuke was confused. How long had he been here, in this place that could have served as his personal tomb??? Weeks? Months? And there was still the question of HOW THE HELL WASN'T HE DEAD RIGHT NOW?!?!?! …or was he? (_**A/N: **__**O_o)**_ Did hell look like a cave? Sasuke was pretty sure he would go to hell. He wasn't pure enough for heaven, he was certain of it. Ninjas were born killers, hired just as much to be assassins as they were to be heroes. If he recalled correctly, there was a commandment, 'thou shalt not kill.' Which…basically meant that his entire life's work was a big time no-no. So…hell was probably his only choice. (_**A/N: I'm very sorry if this offends anyone who isn't Christian. Christianity is the only religion that I know the rules to, so if you don't like it, then please just ignore this part, ok? I don't want to make any enemies because of this…!)**_ Sasuke shook his head. 'I'm over thinking this…ok, first thing's first.'

Slowly, Sasuke got off the stone he'd been lying on. He moved carefully, mindful of the fact that his whole body ached, except, oddly enough, his right shoulder. It was strangly cool and pain free. Hm…

Sasuke exited the cave and shielded his eyes from the blinding sun with his hand. 'Um…I don't think I'm dead.' (_**Haha, baka Sasuke, what was your first clue? Lol)**_

Stretching a little like a cat with its back arched, Sasuke glanced around. 'Huh!' He was right next to the clearing where he fought the anbu! He could tell because he could see the red that littered the ground and everything around it. 'Well, THIS makes things easier…' With a sigh, he started off toward the Sound Village.

_**End chapter.**_

_**A/N: ok, hope you guys like. Sorry again for taking so long. But…life tends to get in my way…DX Merry late Christmas and New Year!**_

_**Oh, btw, about the Author Notes that pop up throughout the chapters…um, I'm going to continue doing that…It's like personal commentary! ^^**_

_**Oh, and a bit of self advertisement! If any of you like roleplaying, I've made a new website! (**_World-of-roleplay . webs . com) _**take out the spaces and the () things. I would love it if you guys joined! The biggest reason I'm telling you about it is because most of my stories are inspired by rps I've done with friends (fate is not borne of a roleplay). Hope you liked! I'll try to update soon! Bear with me, k? **_

_**Ja ne!**_


	4. Chapter 4: back

Chapter 4

"so, Sasuke. Tell me, why are you so late?"

Sasuke was currently in a dimly lit room, that stank of earth and stagnant air. It was chilly, and cave-like. The walls made every noise echo loudly. The only light came from candles dotting the walls every yard or so, their flames flickering eerily.

If the surroundings weren't enough to set his nerves on end, then the glowing golden eyes staring straight at him through the darkness and the sickly sweet slithery voice WERE.

Sasuke was to the point of exhaustion. He wished he could just go to his room, get a good meal in, take a shower, and possibly sleep for a week or two. But nooooo. Life just couldn't go easy on him. It was his responsibility to make a report each time he returned from a mission. …Which was why he was standing in front of a very familiar snake-like man, 'Lord' Orochimaru.

Sasuke gazed at the older man with a bored glint to his eyes. Better to act as if he didn't care whatsoever about the situation. "I was attacked by a couple of patrolling anbu, that's all." He knew he was downplaying it, but it wasn't exactly in his nature to make a big deal over things that have already happened. Besides, Sasuke didn't really like showing any sign of weakness, especially to his 'lord'.

Orochimaru studied Sasuke silently for a moment, probably looking for any sign of a falsity. Well, if he was, he found none. Sasuke's emotionless shield was impenetrable .

"Fine. Give me the scroll, and then you may leave." Sasuke almost sighed in relief, but stopped himself. He took out an old, frail looking scroll from his sleeve and handed it to the old sanin. Without another word, he turned and exited the room.

He was gonna take a SHOWER!!! (A/N: wow, lots of enthusiasm O.o)

- - - - - -

Itachi practically melted onto his bed. Sure, he enjoyed nature, and being out in it…but…that didn't mean that when he got back he didn't thoroughly enjoy manmade facilities. (A/N: I know how THAT feels…)

Staring up at the ceiling, Itachi replayed the last two day's events in his mind.

Part of him wondered why the hell he did that, saving his brother like he did. Why should he care about something like that?

The other part of him mentally smacked the first. Why should he care? He's his BROTHER!!! That was all there was to it!!!

Itachi wondered how Sasuke was doing. Was he ok? Was he back with that hyperactive blonde and the Pink Horror? (A/N: Itachi hasn't been informed of Sasuke's migration to the sound for reasons that will be later revealed. Also, haha pink horror. Lol)

An evil smirk appeared on Itachi's face as an idea made it's presence known. No time like the present to try out his new…advantage…that was given to him when he used the jutsu on his brother…right?

…

Right.

Ever get the feeling that you're being watched?

Sasuke'd returned from his nice, hot shower. He was currently sitting on his bed in a pair of sweatpants, toweling his limp wet hair dry, when suddenly he felt as if there was a presence near him. He turned around, searching the room, but no one was there. Hm… Sasuke pondered the being-watched feeling. Normally, you wouldn't like the feeling, correct? Nope. This was…calming. Like, someone had arrived to protect him.

Sasuke shook his head like a dog to rid himself of the ridiculous thoughts. (A/N: heh heh…woof.) That cave had driven him insane. Yeah, that was it…

Like what usually happens in any point of concentration or drama in an anime, comic relief came in the form of a loud GROOOWWWWLLL from Sasuke's stomach. After all, he hadn't eaten in a couple of days…

So, without further delay, he removed himself from the comfort of his room to get something to eat.

End Chapter.

_**A/N: Sorry my updates are taking so long. Busy life, anal computer, and an almost fatal case of WRITER'S BLOCK!!!**_

_**But I think I'm out of that, so…phew.**_

_**Thanks to my reviewers:**_

Jessica-Uchiha123

Perfect Dreams (thanks for the critique. It helped)

egglorru

Itachi's little weaselette

yaoi-midnight-mistress.

_**Sorry, I'm no longer answering reviews ON the story. A reviewer pointed out that my a/n's are longer then my chapters! (it's true, sadly T_T) But I WILL answer each of you privately and I will still put your names on my fic out of pure gratitude.**_

_**Soryy about the shortness. I'm TRYING, jeesh!**_

_**So…I'm thinking of taking a beta. I've gotten a few offers, so..what do you guys think?**_

_**Ja ne… **_


	5. Chapter 5: Mercy Digs My Grave

~_**Warning! There is a mini timeskip here!!! It's necessary, I promise…~**_

_**Chapter 3: Mercy Digs My Grave**_

Sasuke lay sprawled out on the wet grass, staring unblinkingly at the crying sky. He chuckled humorlessly. 'He's gotten stronger'.

It's not like this wasn't expected. Sasuke'd known that the confrontation was inevitable. …He just wished that he'd been given more time to mentally prepare himself.

In reality, Sasuke was surprised that it had taken the dobe so long to find the hideout.

Well, he was there now, along with Sakura and Kakashi. There had been some pleading from Sasuke's former team; they wanted him to return to Konoha, the very place that stunted his growth as a ninja. Tch.

When Team 7 realized that their words were falling on deaf ears, they took to action. The blonde moron ranted a bit, something along the lines of, "Fine then, I'll just have to beat some sense into ya!"

Kakashi and Sakura had been occupied with a couple of Sound nin, successful experiments from Orochimaru. That, of course, left Naruto to fight with Sasuke.

There is a legend that says, 'when two very close people exchange blows, they can read each other's minds. (1)'

One ninja's fist said that he was somewhat angry, but oddly relieved that he hadn't been forgotten. The other's fist portrayed his desperateness to save the first.

Best friends.

Bitter Rivals.

Brothers.

Both of the two took serious damage, and so did the landscape around them. Naruto and Sasuke were both rapidly tiring, but neither allowed themselves to give up. The word 'failure' just wasn't in their vocabularies.

…

FINALLY! Sasuke's chance!!!

Naruto, who'd become so emotional that it was clouding his judgment, had let a vital point of himself become exposed, vulnerable to attack.

His neck.

Sasuke grinned and activated his Chidori. This would be too easy. He brought his hand down hard on the blonde…

_**-FLASHBACK-**_

_"Come on, dobe, let's go back," Sasuke said, panting slightly on top of 'his' tree. They were back in the Land of Waves, working on their tree climbing techniques._

_"Alright!" Naruto grinned with his reply. The way he looked…Sasuke couldn't help but smirk back._

_-__**scene change-**_

_"Hey, Sasuke!!!" Sasuke was thrown from his thoughts by the loud voice. He turned around to see his two teammates, Sakura and Naruto. Naruto held a rectangular, decent sized box in his outstretched hands, and both were grinning like maniacs. "Happy birthday, Teme!!! This's from Sakura and me!!!"_

_Sasuke sighed in fake annoyance. "Dobe, I thought I told you both not to buy me anything." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Just open it!!! Jeesh…"_

_Sasuke took the box from the blonde, and carefully pulled the tape from the edges._

_Inside was a beautifully made dagger. Ornately carved, a dragon slithered it's way around the blade in the form of a sheath. It's visible eye gleamed green with a small emerald._

_Sasuke pulled the dagger from the sheath gently to admire it's beauty, all the while wondering how the hell his two teammates managed to buy something like this. As if reading his thoughts, Sakura spoke up, "We've saved up for a while…" Sasuke smiled an honest smile, not a smirk, which made the other two's jaws drop. It may have been a small one, but it was there. "Thank you," he said simply._

_**-END FLASHBACK-**_

At the last moment, Sasuke threw Naruto to the side so that his attack missed the blonde's neck completely, instead hitting the tree behind them and cutting it in two, which fell over on the other two members of Team 7, successfully knocking them, as well as the sound ninja, unconscious. Naruto flew a good few feet to the right, and hit his head against a large rock that protruded from the ground, which made him go nighty-night as well.

Sasuke wanted to check on his 'friend', but he knew he couldn't. He needed to put as much distance between Team 7 and his self as possible. So he left.

Sasuke wandered around the remaining forest slowly for a while. Darkness had begun to take the land, and rain started falling steadily. He was now soaked to the bone. And then…his exhaustion got the better of him, and he collapsed, meeting the cold, wet ground.

…Which brought him to where he was now.

Sasuke's body ached to the point that he couldn't move, because every little twitch, or attempt he made to rise sent shudders of pain down his spine. Part of him was curious as to how long he'd lain unconscious here, but the rest of him just didn't care.

…Sasuke was surprised when his view of the clouds was suddenly interrupted by an abnormally pale face and glowing golden eyes.

Orochimaru smirked. "Well, hello, Sasuke…I was wondering where you went off too." Sasuke merely snorted as means of reply.

The snake sannin ignored the lack of real response from the raven. After all, he was used to it. "So," he continued in a honey sweet voice, "Did you do as I requested?"

_**-FLASHBACK-**_

_Sasuke stood in front of his 'lord'. He'd just returned from yet another mission. He and the sound 4'd been sent to retrieve a scroll from a spy in the hidden Leaf village. There he'd been met by Naruto and his comrades. …Well…He'd failed the mission. He'd been summoned by Orochimaru as soon as he'd returned._

_"I'm disappointed in you, Sasuke…" came the slithery voice. "It seems that every time the Kyuubi brat becomes involved, you fail."_

_Orochimaru moved forward and cupped Sasuke's cheek. "Now you must prove your loyalty. Next time you see Uzumaki…kill him."_

_**-END FLASHBACK-**_

Orochimaru stared at Sasuke, waiting impatiently for an answer. He didn't receive one, and the smirk he wore disappeared. "you didn't do it…did you?"

End Chapter.

_**A/N: oh god!!! Heh…this is sort of like a cliffie, in a way…**_

_**Anyway, what's Orochimaru gonna do to Sasuke when he finds out that he didn't kill naru-nii??? –evil laugh- only I know!**_

_**Oh, hey, just a question. Is any of you planning on going to momocon this year???**_

_**Thank you to:**_

Perfect Dreams

A Single Fragile Rose

XxxnarusasuxxX

egglorru

_**and **_Itachi's little weaselette

_**for reviewing.**_

_**ENJOY!!!**_

_**Ja ne.**_


	6. Chapter 6: Someone Please

_**Yo! Black-ice-alchemist is back to annoy ya some more!!! *evil laugh* anyway…**_

_**Chapter 6: Someone Please…**_

"You didn't do it…did you?"

The words made Sasuke flinch inwardly, though on the outside he showed no emotion. He was in for it now…Normally that wouldn't bother him, but…Right now he didn't really have any way to defend himself…

"No," the Raven gritted out, "I didn't."

He watched as Orochimaru's eyes narrowed dangerously. "So, you couldn't even accomplish such a simple task. Oh, _Sasuke_…" Sasuke didn't like the snake's tone. Sticky sweet, sad…it worried him.

Sasuke tried to sit up, but a foot was suddenly pressing down on his chest, making it sorta hard for him to breathe…"Now now, Sasuke," said the older man in a semi-mocking voice, "We don't want you getting hurt more than you already are, now, do we?"

Flat on the ground, Sasuke gasped for breath. Orochimaru was steadily adding pressure to the boy's chest with his sandled foot, and Sasuke's vision was starting to swim, his eyes unfocusing …

Orochimaru's sickening laugh was the last thing Sasuke heard before everything went black.

Itachi didn't know why, but he was _extremely _nervous. There was a very uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Randomly, Sasuke popped into his mind, which made his already shot nerves do a dance. Was something wrong with his otouto??? Without hesitation, Itachi took down the mental block that 'separated' his mind from Sasuke's.

_Pain_

_Fear_

_Disgust._

As Itachi felt around his little brother's mind, his anger grew to terrifying levels. Someone was hurting Sasuke!!!

Then, one word ran through Sasuke's mind that made Itachi's blood run cold.

Orochimaru.

Itachi jumped up, enraged. How did that snake get a hold of his little brother?! He grabbed his cloak and made his way out of the room. He left a clone behind to explain to leader why he was leaving so suddenly

'_Hold on, Sasuke,' _he thought, _'I'm coming.'_

_**End Chapter.**_

_**A/n: er…listen, I have accidently placed the 'thank you to my reviewers' section on chapter seven, so skip over to that one to see it, 'kay?**_

_**So...this is short, but it's done on purpose for once. Don't look at me like that, I have my reasons!!! I SWEAR!!!**_

_**-ten minutes later-**_

_***beaten, abused black-ice-alchemist***_

_**Sheesh…you people are like vultures!!! Damn…*cough* anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter…**_


	7. Chapter 7: Dirty

_**Chapter seven: Dirty**_

_**Warning: slight mature content!**_

When Sasuke woke, he was confused. What had happened? How had he fallen asleep? Slowly he opened his eyes…to see total darkness. What the hell???

Sasuke tried to move, but found he couldn't. …Which worried the crap out of him.

Sasuke gasped as the memories of earlier events flooded his poor mind. Shit! In a small burst of pure panic, Sasuke struggled to free himself from his unseen bonds. …

-THREE MINUTES LATER- (spongebob style voice)

Exhausted, Sasuke let out a muffled groan of defeat. He couldn't break free. His heart was pounding, it's throbbing echoed in his ears.

"So you're awake."

Why did life hate Sasuke so much?

Itachi sped through the forest, the trees blurring with the speed, even with his sharingan. He really didn't have a clue where he was going. He relied on the emotions that came from Sasuke to point out his direction, sort of like a dog scenting its prey. He didn't know how that worked, but was glad that it did.

Itachi could feel the fear that was rapidly growing in his little brother's mind, and with each increase, his own anxiousness grew.

He prayed that he would make it to his otouto in time.

"So, you're awake." The slithery voice seemed to embrace the trembling boy in front of him perversely .

Orochimaru, who was standing in the hall, entered the room and shut the door behind him. He stared down at his prey, a chilling smirk in place on his pale face.

Sasuke was laying on the bed situated in the Snake's room. His hands and feet were each tied to a bedpost, leaving him in sort of an X formation. He was gagged and blindfolded. Basically, he was defenseless.

Orochimaru'd watched the boy vainly struggle to free himself, and the older male was inwardly laughing at him.

Almost making no sound whatsoever, Orochimaru went to Sasuke's side and removed his gag. He wanted to hear the Uchiha's pitiful voice. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!?!?!" Sasuke immidiatly shouted, and the other flinched. "Why the hell am I like this?!?!"

Orochimaru chuckled in that overly sadistic way he has. "Why? Oh, Sasuke-kun…" The snake stroked the side of the boy's face gently, "You know why. You disobeyed me by leaving the Kyuubi brat alive. This is your punishment."

Punishment? What'd he mean???

Sasuke didn't have any time to think that over, as apparently his 'lord' decided to show him.

Sasuke almost went into shock as he felt his shirt being pushed up to around his neck, and cold, clammy hands beginning to massage his chest. (_**A/N: in this story, Sasuke hasn't yet traded in his 'konoha' clothes for his new 'sound' attire) **_ "what…what are you doing??? Don't touch-"

Sasuke was interrupted as cold lips descended on his own. He tried to move his head a way, but a hand tangled itself in his spiky hair and kept him held in place, helpless to his 'attacker'.

'_Please, god, let this just be a dream. Please don't let this be real.'_

Orochimaru could tell that Sasuke was terrified. His breathing was rapid, irregular. He was stiff, tense. The snake was enjoying that fact. Orochimaru felt power…and pleasure…in his fear.

Orochimaru felt a sudden longing to see the horror in the coal colored eyes of his vessel. He removed his hand from it's place on the boy's stomach and slid the blindfold away from his prize.

Beautiful.

There it was. Fear. Disgust. Shame. Just what he wanted to see. This is how he wanted Sasuke to look from then on. Simply breathtaking.

Orochimaru's tounge prodded the boy's lips, generously asking for his entrance instead of just taking it. He rolled his eyes when Sasuke stubbornly refused to let him in. Fine, if that was how he wanted to play it…He cruelly bit down on Sasuke's bottom lip, and inwardly grinned in triumph when the raven gasped in pain. Without hesitation, he slipped his tongue inside Sasuke's awaiting cavern, planning to map it out thoroughly.

In his opinion, this was a very good day.

Sasuke felt so violated. That snake…

In a moment of blind defiance, Sasuke did something he really shouldn't have. He bit down as hard a s he possibly could on the vile tongue that was eagerly exploring his poor mouth, and mentally cheered in his small win when he tasted blood.

Orochimaru shrieked in pain and pulled away.

Sasuke watched in grim satisfaction as the snake above him held his hand over his mouth and growled in his pain. Pure rage flashed across those golden eyes, and Sasuke knew he'd just sent himself to his own personal piece of hell, and Orochimaru was Satan. Blows rained down on his head. One caught him right below his right temple. Immediately, everything began to spin, and for a moment he thought he was going to pass out. But…life just couldn't be kind to him for once, right?

Sasuke was aware the entire time. He was awake to feel his clothes being ripped off of him. To feel the disgusting hands on his body, making him feel dirty everywhere they touched. He was conscious to feel the searing, agonizing pain of having something roughly shoved without any form of preparation into a place that he wasn't used to having things, repeatedly. To feel the blood slowly seeping from his poor, beaten body. He was there fror every soul shattering, heart breaking, crushing moment.

'_Why does god hate me? What did I do to deserve this?'_

'_Why can't I just die?'_

_**End Chapter.**_

_**A/N: Bleh. I hate this chapter. Orosasu is just so…NASTY. But it had to be done, for the plot of the story. …That, and my best friend would totally kick my ass if I didn't add it. She likes being sadistic to Sasuke, apparently _. But yeah, I'm 100% serious. She would. XD**_

_**I guess you can tell how much of a noob I am at writing lemons…especially rape ones… I had a REALLY hard time writing this whole chapter. In the end…I kinda chickened out. I didn't actually write a 'lemon'. It's a lime at best, 'cuz I just vagued it all out. **_

_**That's partly out of my disgust for Orosasu rape -_-**_

_**Anyway…I'm trying to work on my lemon writing skills so that when it comes time for the Itasasu goodness, I can actually do ok at it.**_

_**And to a CERTAIN reviewer…*cough EggIorru cough* Sorry. I know you said you didn't want the cliché 'Orochi rapes Sasu' thing, but…I'm more afraid of you-know-who! *trembles in fear* She's friggin ABUSIVE!!!**_

_**So…yeah. Oh, I was listening to a song that goes perfectly with this chapter. So, check out the song 'Hit the Floor' by Bullet for my Valentine! **_

_**Thank you to:**_

Ellokin Niven (thanks nik-nik.)

A Single Fragile Rose

Perfect Dreams

egglorru (again, gomen nasaii)

yaoi-midnight-mistress

Jessica-Uchiha123 (eh heh…soon, my friend, soooon…. *evil laugh*)

XxxnarusasuxxX

Micro chibi baka-san (ah, new reviewer! Welcom chibi-baka-san, and thanks!)

_**Ja ne…(REVIEW! I WANT CRITIQUE!!! NOT THAT PANSY ONE-LINE, 'I love this story' CRAP!!!**_


	8. Chapter 8: Little Brother

_**Chapter eight: Little brother…**_

Finally, it was over. Orochimaru dressed himself, and cut the ropes that bound Sasuke to the bed. "I'm going to clean myself," he informed the Uchiha haughtily, "and I expect you to no longer be in this room by the time I return." With that, the snake sauntered from the room.

Slowly and shakily, Sasuke rose from the bed. He stumbled over to the remains of his clothing, which had been thrown randomly across the room. Carefully, acutely aware of the pain that almost crippled him each time he moved, Sasuke dressed, and left that horrible room.

Sasuke's confused mind didn't know where it was going, but…one thing was certain; he wasn't going to stay in the hideout right then. He seriously needed some air.

Outside.

It was good to be outside.

Sasuke trudged painfully on for a while, until he could no longer see the entrance to the hideout. He then slumped down under an old tree, and stared out into the semi-darkness. He hadn't noticed before, but evening had crept up on him. Not that he really cared at the moment.

Oh, well, great. During that…_event_…he couldn't just black out, life just wasn't that nice to him. But, now that everything was over, and it would be inconvenient to faint…NOW his body decided to try to shut down.

What the hell did Sasuke ever do to have his luck suck so much???

That was how Itachi found him. Almost completely unconscious. He noticed the torn clothes, the scratches, the blood dripping from Sasuke's bottom lip…

And Sasuke's eyes.

They were half lidded, showing his exhaustion. And…they were blank. Completely vacant, as if he wasn't really there.

'_Sasuke…'_ Itachi thought, _'What'd that bastard __do__ to you?'_

Gently, Itachi lifted the poor teen up, carrying him bridal style. There was no way he was leaving Sasuke here. He had no clue as to how the boy had managed to get himself caught in the snake bastard's clutches, but he wasn't about to allow the slithery man to hurt his brother again.

He'd kill the disgusting bastard before he allowed him to touch Sasuke.

_**End Chapter**_

_**A/N: Kay, things should be easier for me to write from here on out…Thank God. It sucks when you have to force yourself to write something!**_

_**And yes, EXTREMELY short. Gomen!!!**_

_**Please review…**_

_**Ja ne.**_


	9. Chapter 9: Akatsuki and comforts, un!

_**Chapter nine: Akatsuki, and comforts**_

Sasuke regained consciousness slowly. His eyelids felt heavy, and he didn't really want to open them.

For some reason, his memories of the day before were vague, fuzzy. It was if his mind hadn't quite caught up with him yet.

Sluggishly, he pushed against the weight of his eyelids until he'd finally managed to open them a small amount, and was able to see a small sliver of the sleep-blurred world. "Oh, you're awake, hmm? Finally, I was getting kinda bored, un."

Almost right in Sasuke's face was a…woman? Man? With long blonde hair that appearantly covered one of his or her blue eyes.

"GAH!!!" Sasuke yelled, startled, and jumped a bit. Er…perhaps that wasn't the best course of action. Sasuke's head knocked against the…_person_…and an instantaneous headache made itself thoroughly known inside the poor Raven's brain. "ow…owowow…" he said, grasping the side of his head with his hand. He glanced at the blonde, who was mirroring his movement. "ow," the stranger said in a slightly amused, slightly annoyed voice, "You have a freaking _hard_ head, un!"

To both of their surprise, Sasuke let out a small, amused chuckle. The blonde smiled in return. "Well, now, you're definitely not as much of a cold bastard as I thought you'd be, un!"

…Eh?

Sasuke stared blankly at the man, awaiting a further explanation. Then he noticed something oddly familiar about the guy's clothing…red…clouds? Wait, WHAT???

"AKATSUKI!!!!" He yelled, almost falling completely off the bed. He jumped up, and fell into a fighting stance. The entire time, Deidara, who was the Blonde Man, had been watching the Raven, one eyebrow raised, and his head slightly cocked to the side like a puppy. Then, after a moment of silence, he began to giggle. (_**A/N: wow, giggling…how 'unmanly')**_

Deidara's girlish…mannerisms…almost startled Sasuke out of his defensive mode. "what the hell is up with you???"

In between his laughter, Deidara managed to choke out, "You…that…funny…heh." Sasuke rolled his eyes. _'wow…'_

"But…seriously," Deidara continued, finally getting a small amount of control over himself again, "Don't worry. I'm not gonna attack you or anything, yeah."

Like Sasuke'd actually just take his word for it. Tch.

Watching the blonde's every movement, Sasuke backed up to the other side of the room and sat in a chair that was against the wall.

-ten minutes later- (spongebob voice)

How the hell did it get to this point???

Sasuke didn't know.

He'd been glaring at Deidara. Ok, sure. That was fine. Deidara'd been staring back at him, smirk in place on his face. Annoying, but whatever.

But…when had it become a staring contest?!?!?!

Such was the randomness of his life.

Just as Sasuke's eyes were starting to water in protest of the lack of blinking, a door on the other side of the room opened to reveal none other than Sasuke's older brother, carrying a tray of food.

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(_**A/N: in case you are wondering, it has come to my attention that Fanfiction . net doesn't seem to like my line breaks, and doesn't show them. So, the random looking army of smiley faces you see above are my new line break. I'll probably switch it up from time to time…)**_

Itachi expected the worst when he entered his bedroom, where his little brother was currently staying, kept under the watchful (and somewhat annoying) gaze of Deidara. He expected Sasuke to freak as soon as he laid eyes on him. Oddly enough, though, Sasuke didn't do so. He didn't charge at Itachi, nor did he let loose a stream of random, vulgar insults. No, he didn't even move. Sasuke just stared up at the elder Uchiha, looking sort of…confused and worried. Not taking his eyes off of his otouto, Itachi nodded his thanks in Deidara's direction, who chuckled and removed his presence from the room without a sound to mark his exit.

Itachi cleared his throat before speaking. "I brought you something to eat…" His voice seemed to startle Sasuke, because the boy jumped slightly, barely moving enough to show it. Sasuke then nodded somewhat suspiciously. Smiling inwardly at the small, cautious acceptance given, Itachi moved slowly over to gently place the tray beside Sasuke on the arm of the chair, before positioning himself on the bed, facing his brother. "Well, then, you should eat. I'm sure you must be starving, after all…"

Sasuke made no move to touch the tray of food; instead continuing to stare at Itachi. After a few moments of awkward silence, he spoke. "Why am I here?"

Itachi winced (inwardly, of course). He didn't know what to tell his little brother. '_Oh, I performed a jutsu that saved your life but also gave me the ability to sense your emotions, among other things that you probably wouldn't appreciate, and I sensed your fear of Orochimaru, so I came to save you as if you were a damsel in distress?'_ Yeah, um…Itachi had a feeling that that wouldn't work out so well…

"I have my reasons," he chose to say instead, "I, little brother, am the one who will ask questions." Itachi's eye twitched in slight annoyance when he heard Sasuke's defiant snort. Little brat…

"Why were you with that snake of a sannin?"

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Tch. As if Sasuke was _really _gonna answer that. Even though his reasons were _about_ Itachi, that didn't mean it was any of his business. A tense silence filled the room as an answer was awaited but not given.

Finally, Itachi sighed in defeat. "Fine, you win. You don't have to answer that. I won't bother you with anything else, but you _do _have to answer this one question."

'_One question_?' Sasuke thought, '_and he'll leave me alone_?' "I'm listening," he said warily. He watched his brother's face intently, not really knowing what he expected out of this. What could Itachi possibly want to know?

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_**(A/N:I know the line breaks are showing up often, but there gonna do that from time to time. The reason I use them is to show a change of POV, so it could be just one or two sentances before I use them again. Sorry for the confusion…)**_

Itachi locked eyes with his brother, trying to portray the seriousness of his queuing question. He wanted to make sure that he would get the truth. "What…happened back there? What did he do to you?"

Immediately, eye contact was broken by the younger, and a spikey black head lowered itself.

_What had the bastard __done __to him?!_

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As soon as the question came out of Itachi's mouth, violent memories of the previous day flashed behind Sasuke's eyes. Finally the fuzziness that had hidden the events in question vanished, leaving behind the truth of what had been done to him. Suddenly, he felt dirty. He just wanted to take an extremely long, extremely hot shower, and scrub that man's vile touch off of his bruised skin. He stared down at his feet, wishing he was invisible. To his horror, and as a hit that destroyed what was left of his store of pride, tears began to well up in his eyes, but he kept them from falling with sheer willpower.

What now? What was going to happen? Why did Itachi even care?

Sasuke's breath caught as he thought of something else. What would Itachi do when he found out about what had happened back in the Sound Village? He'd be furious, and probably disgusted with him. How could Sasuke have let the body of an Uchiha be soiled in that way? He should have been able to save himself…

"Sasuke," Itachi said, sounding impatient, "Tell me what happened."

Still staring at the ground, Sasuke shook his head. He was too terrified to say anything.

_**"DAMN IT, SASUKE, TELL ME!!!"**_ Itachi yelled, and slammed his fist into the wall right above where Sasuke was currently sitting, and trembling in fear. How was he supposed to explain to his older brother that he had been raped by the very man whom he has willingly followed, so that he could gain the power to kill said brother? He didn't want him to see his folly. But, it didn't really look like he would take no for an answer. "I…he…" Sasuke just couldn't say it. So, instead, he lifted his head so that his eyes could once more lock with his brother's. He hoped, but also didn't hope, that Itachi would be able to read the message within the windows to his watery, broken soul.

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Itachi stared down into twin wavering black pools. The light that used to reside within the boy's eyes seemed to have disappeared. It gave him a helpless, destroyed look. Like…Horror flooded Itachi's mind. _'No…'_ "Sasuke," he said, his voice actually cracking, "Did…did Orochimaru…_rape _you?" The older Uchiha's fears were confirmed when he saw Sasuke flinch. "HE FUCKING _RAPED _YOU?!?!"

Itachi suddenly felt an intense urge to strangle someone, preferably a certain pale, black-haired, golden-eyed pedophile. But, since said man was not currently within strangling range, he settled for pacing across the room, wringing his hands together and thinking of the many ways he was going to torture the snake bastard when he got his hands on him.

Oh, that bastard had better be careful, because the raven's about to prey on the snake.

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Oh yeah, Itachi was pissed. Sasuke could tell. He was in sooo much shit. Sasuke could practically see his grave being dug with every second that passed.

Sasuke watched as Itachi paced around the room. Occasionally, the Older Uchiha would mumble something violent under his breath, which served to terrify the younger even more.

Finally, Sasuke just couldn't take it anymore. With everything that happened yesterday, and now this…the tears that he had managed to hold back up until just wouldn't be pushed away anymore. They fell down his face, making small trails through the dirt that still streaked across himself from wandering around in the woods yesterday evening.

He was such a wimp…

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Oh God, Sasuke was crying. What was wrong?

"S-Sasuke?" Itachi stopped pacing, and was staring at his little brother. He was…crying… "Sasuke, what's wrong?" At that, the younger looked up at him, and the look on his face made Itachi want to destroy anyone who hurt his little brother. (_**A/N: shut up, you pervy people! He doesn't like him like that just yet!!! Too early in the story!!! It's just brotherly Uchiha love. You know, Uchihas are extremely possessive and protective, so…anyway…)**_

"what's…wrong?" Sasuke quoted. "You…you know what's wrong…"

What did he mean by that?

All at once, Sasuke's tears started falling faster and harder, and he began to hiccup. "B-brother, I'm s-sorry…"

Wait, what?

"Sorry?" Itachi asked, moving over to sit beside the spiky haired teen, "What the hell are you sorry for?"

Sasuke looked away, as if he were ashamed. "I let myself…be…by that man…I'm disgusting…If-if I were a real…Uchiha, I would've been able to pr-protect myself better…"

So that was it. Sasuke felt like he was too weak. Itachi supposed that some of the blame for making Sasuke think that way was directed at him. After all, he _was_ always calling him a weakling whenever he saw him…even though it was necessary to Sasuke's development… But this…_thing_…had NOT happened because he was weak. No, this was all that pedofilic bastard's fault. (_**A/N: Yes, I KNOW there's no such word as 'pedofilic' get over it. It's my word, and my story. If I wanted to type it in randomnese I could!!! Jeesh.)**_

Carefully, as to not scare the trembling boy, Itachi wrapped him in his arms, and whispered into his hair, "It's not your fault…"

_**End Chapter.**_

_**A/N: there you are. Yes, I know, very dramatic chapter, and both Uchiha brothers were VERY OOC. It was necessary. I promise. And yes, I'm making Deidara a good guy in this story. I can't help it, Dei-kun's just awesome. ^_^**_

_**So…? Notice anything different, other than the line breaks???? LONGER CHAPTER!!! BOW DOWN BEFORE MY TOTAL AWESOMNESS!!! FEEEEAAAARRR ME!!!**_

_**Oh, one of my faithful reviewers, Egg Iorru, has shown me something cool. This song is the perfect Itasasu themesong!!! All I Want by Autopilot Off (Thanks a bunch, I automatically fell in love with the song, it's been stuck in my head for the last two days :D) anyway check it out!**_

_**Thank you to:**_

egglorru

Perfect Dreams (You sadistic human being, you!!! I like your style!!! ^_^)

Jessica-Uchiha123

Kyarei (thank you, I'm glad you like it ^_^)

Loving91Rain

XxxnarusasuxxX

englicana (I could tell you something that could make your review sound SO perverted…lol)

_**Kay, gotta get to work on the next chapter….ja ne!**_


	10. Chapter 10: Waking Up and Towels

_**Chapter 10: Waking up, and Towels.**_

Sasuke woke the next morning in the same bed as yesterday. The major difference? No slightly annoying blonde guy with a speech impediment to give him a heart attack. Good… Sasuke didn't think he'd be able to stand it if that was how he'd be woken up every morning. He'd kill the guy first. …just like every alarm clock he'd ever owned…_**(A/N: sounds like me XP)**_

Sasuke wondered how he'd gotten from the couch/chair thing over to the bed last night. Actually, what happened…?

Ok, Sasuke'd been terrified of what he thought his brother was going to do to him…then Itachi…hugged him?!?!

WHAT THE HELL?!?!

Why had Sasuke even allowed that?! And…if he remembered correctly, he'd even enjoyed the feeling of warmth covering him!!! GAH, so wrong!!!

…but it **was** nice…

Sasuke would thoroughly deny it if he was ever asked, but despite everything that had happened in the past, he couldn't really bring himself to hate his brother. Something just told him that it would be…wrong, somehow. The anger he normally showed was just frustration, and him being pissed that Itachi left him. But he sure as hell wasn't going to tell Itachi that. Itachi had made it his job to kill him…so…that's what he would do.

_'ok, Sasuke. Too deep in thought here. First things first…shower.'_ Yes, he REEEEAAAALLLY needed (and wanted) a shower. Thankfully, he knew from Blondie the day before that 'his' room had its own connecting bathroom. So, without further delay, he rose from the bed to take his precious shower.

_**(A/N: Happy, EggIorru? I changed the line break. I even spelled your name right! :P)**_

Itachi found it sort of stupid that he actually had to sneak down the hallway. He was currently avoiding two people. A) leader-sama. Pein didn't yet know that his hideout was housing another Uchiha, and Itachi wanted to keep it that way for a little while longer, if possible. B) Deidara. The artist had been bugging him all morning about going to wake up, 'his sexy little brother'. Itachi wasn't declining the 'offer' because it bothered him, he just assumed that Deidara would prefer to keep his head attached to his body. Itachi knew from experience that when Sasuke first woke up, he was normally very…violent. And sadistic. Yes, very sadistic.

So no, it wasn't that Itachi was annoyed that that Deidara thought his brother was hot. (It was no real secret that Deidara was 150% gay. And, judging by the frequency of his 'visits to Dei's bedroom, so was Sasori. –cough-) Why should he care about something like that? IT wasn't his problem, or even his **business**, who liked his brother, or who Sasuke happened to like, for that matter.

'…_but'_ a little voice in the back of his head spoke up, _'It __does__ bother you…'_

And of course, that voice was completely ignored.

So anyway, here he was, sneaking along. Things would've gone **much** faster if he'd have been able to just walk like a normal person, but **nooo…** And the fact that he had to balance a tray of breakfast while being all sneaky didn't really help…

Finally, he managed to make it to his room. (Yes, the room in which Sasuke was residing was, in fact, Uchiha Itachi's bedroom.) and sighed in relief. He hadn't been seen by anyone.

Itachi entered the room slowly, trying not to wake his brother if he was still asleep. (He didn't want to face Sasuke's 'morning wrath')

…

No one was there!!!

Itachi frantically searched the room with his eyes. It was empty!

Where the hell was Sasuke?!?!

_'Ah…clean…'_ Sasuke thought. He'd gotten out of the shower, and wrapped the soft, fuzzy white towel that he'd found in the closet around his lean waist. He went over to the little medicine cabinet/mirror that hung over the bathroom sink so he could fix his normally spiky hair. The weight of the water dripping from the strands was holding it down so that it fell limply around his face, and made it look much longer than it did when it was dry.

Finally, he gave up trying to squeeze the water from his poor hair (Why didn't this stupid place have a hair dryer?!?!) and just shook it off like a little puppy. He ran his fingers through it a bit, then exited the room…To see his older brother standing in the middle of the bedroom, staring at him with wide eyes, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Sasuke froze, and the two Uchihas just stared at each other unblinkingly for what seemed to be an excruciatingly long time. He could feel his cheeks heating up slightly at the look Itachi was giving him, though he didn't know why.

Well, this was interesting, in a weird sort of way…

Itachi was about to full out _freak_. Sasuke definitely wasn't in the room. Nope. He wished he'd remembered to warn Sasuke not to explore…shit.

Itachi heard a creaky noise coming from the other side of the room, and turned to see what it was.

Relief flooded through him as Itachi saw his brother exit the bathroom…still partially wet, hair still not it's normal spiky self…and in a _towel._ Itachi couldn't help but stare. Sasuke was…beautiful…wait, what the **hell?!**

Itachi mentally kicked himself. **Bad** Itachi! '_he's your __brother__, damn it!'_

Then he noticed the bruises…the cuts…and the bite marks…Sasuke was beaten pretty badly. Itachi felt a melancholy sort of anger pulse through him. And yet, despite what had happened, Sasuke was still acting the same as usual… (With the exception of the fact that for some strange reason, the little brat wasn't actually trying to kill him.) How did he manage to stay cheerful? Well, not cheerful, exactly…bad choice of words. How did Sasuke keep himself together?

Itachi was broght out of his thoughts when Sasuke cleared his throat and quickly turned his head to the side, breaking eye contact. Though, he didn't do so fast enough that Itachi didn't see the slight blush that graced the younger's face…

"So," Sasuke said, sounding uncertain, and embarrassed, "Did-did you want something…?"

Oh, yeah, right. "Yes," Itachi replied, quickly regaining his composer. "I brought you something to eat." He received a nod that he took as both acknowledgement and gratitude. He then left the room to allow the other to change and eat in peace.

"Hey, Itachi, un! Uh…what's wrong with you? Your face is red, un."

Well, that's just perfect.

_**End Chapter**_

_**A/N: hee…I guess you could say that this chapter is fillerish. I wanted to add in some humor to the story…hence the 'waking up is violence' part. Also, I'm starting to make the change from 'Brotherly affection', to 'Falling for you' as was seen with the little hint of jealousy and the towel scene. ^^**_

_**As to how Sasuke's not just totally broken and depressed, as well as why he's not trying to kill Itachi, you'll just have to wait, you'll find out soon. Lots of drama on the way…joy. I hate drama. But, it's necessary…**_

_**I'm getting better when it comes to chapter length…I think.**_

_**Oh, and it really bothers me that most of my story paragraphs are only a couple of sentances long, so I'm trying to figure out how to change said annoyance.**_

_**Thank you to:**_

HANAJIMA UCHIHA (I appreciate the help)

yaoi-midnight-mistress

englicana

XxxnarusasuxxX

Ellokin Niven

norway22

egglorru (Ha! Spelled your name right AGAIN!!! I'm getting better! XD)

Perfect Dreams (Luvs you too, and it's ok to be sadistic, I know I am!)

Sora Keyblader

_**You guys rock. Without you, there would be NO Fate! (er, I mean the story, not life's sort of fate…-sweatdrop-)**_

_**Next Chapter: Pein finds out about Sasuke (Thanks to Deidara's big ass mouth) and the two Uchiha brothers have a friendly spar! Cute moments, akward moments, hot moments…(I mean c'mon, LOTS of goooood opportunities in sparring!) Tune in next week…day…whenever B-I-A finally decides to get off her lazy bum… (**__this part was done by a friend of mine, I had no part in it. Jeesh.)_


	11. Chapter 11: The Only Choice

_**Chapter eleven: The Only Choice**_

That stupid, idiotic blabbermouth told Pein. Outside Itachi's bedroom was the Leader of the Akatsuki himself, as well as the blonde dumbass. Pein had his arms crossed, and his foot was tapping against the ground, showing his annoyance. And to top it all off, Deidara was grinning like he had absolutely NO clue what he'd done. Actually, in reality, he probably didn't know what he'd done. Deidara sort of…well, let's just say that his motto should be, '_I talk first, then think later!'_…if he thought about the situation at ALL, anyway. Well, it didn't really matter whether the blondie'd thought it through or not, Itachi was still gonna strangle the idiot later. Yup, death to the artist.

"We need to talk," Leader said.

So they walked, all of them together, to Pein's study, so they could converse in peace. The entire time, the image of Sasuke covered only by a towel around his slim waist was all Itachi could think about. _'Gah,'_ he thought, _'It's only the effects of the jutsu! Fight it!!!' _But still, the mental picture refused to leave his poor mind.

Sasuke's face felt like it was burning. Why had Itachi looked at him like that? And why had his body felt like it would just disintegrate under the older man's intense gaze?

Sasuke dressed himself in a pair of black sweatpants and a simple red tee shirt, (left for him by Itachi; his previous ensemble had been taken to be…burned…) all the while wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

Argh, this place was messing with his head. He needed to get out of here and get his priorities straight.

But…how would he do so? He had nowhere else to go. He was a rouge ninja; returning to the Village hidden in the Leaves would be suicide. The penalty for traitors is death. None of the other hidden villages would dare defy the Leaf by housing such a dangerous enemy. And…there was no way in hell that he was going back to the Sound Village. He'd rather saw off his own leg with a rusty spoon. (If that were even possible)

So…what was left for him to do? He could stay by himself. As a ninja, Sasuke knew how to live off the land. He knew which plants were good to eat and which were poisonous. He knew which herbs could be used to heal infections or illnesses. He could do it…But did he want to?

Itachi sighed and ran his hand through his ponytail as he walked slowly down the hallway. His previous conversation with Pein was echoing through his mind.

_"Itachi," Pein began in a slow, slightly annoyed sounding voice, "why is it that you deemed it unnecessary to inform me that the Akatsuki hideout was housing another ninja-without my permission-and that the ninja was another Uchiha?"_

_Itachi had inwardly cringed, but showed no physical sign of distress. "I assure you, Leader-sama, I had indeed planned to tell you about my brother's presence. I did not know, however, that the matter was so important. If I had, I would've mentioned it much earlier." He'd chosen his words carefully, and he mentally patted himself on the back for his performance._

_Pein eyed the Uchiha suspiciously, probably waiting to see if Itachi's face would give anything away. Well, if that was the case, then the man would definitely be disappointed. Uchiha Itachi __never__ showed physical emotion, no matter the situation. (Well…unless Sasuke was involved…) Pein should know better than to expect any sort of slip up from the raven._

_Finally, Pein relented, breaking eye contact with a 'hn.'_

_Ha, victory. Itachi: 1. Pein: 0. Deidara (who was still in the room): Death row._

_Still not looking in Itachi's direction, Pein began again, "Itachi, he cannot stay here."_

_NO!_

_"But where is he supposed to go?!" The anger and…-was that desperation?- in Itachi's voice made Pein look back up at him in astonishment. "I don't know," he said slowly, "And really, I don't care. Itachi, you know the rules. No one who is not a member of the Akatsuki can stay here, except for prisoners in the dungeons. Even if he is your brother, he is still a __deadly__ missing nin, who until now was training under our snake of an enemy, Orochimaru. He has done nothing to prove his trust to me, and, as I said, rules are rules."_

_'He was training under Orochimaru?!' Itachi thought, startled. He stored that tidbit away in his memory to question Sasuke with later._

_"But-" he started, but was cut off by Pein. "No, Itachi. I'm sorry. But if I don't enforce the rules previously set, then I will no longer be taken seriously by the other Akatsuki members, which would undoubtedly cause complete chaos."_

_With that, Pein began to turn away. "Wait!" Itachi grabbed his arm and forced him to turn back towards him. "what if Sasuke joined the Akatsuki?"_

Pein had finally agreed to give Sasuke a chance, after a bit more arguing. But, Sasuke would have to become Akatsuki. Itachi didn't think Sasuke would be very happy about that. But…what other choice did the boy have?

Itachi now stood in front of his room, leaning against the wooden door, the only thing that separated him from the object of his thoughts. How would Sasuke react to this? Negatively, Itachi supposed, sighing.

Then, without his consent, Itachi's thoughts wandered to what had come before the conversation with Pein had taken place. That image that Itachi had worked so hard to push to the back of his mind came back with a vengeance. Sasuke, staring at him with wide eyes…

Itachi gasped and shook his head, as if trying to throw off his…less than respectable thoughts. They were just the effects of the previously used jutsu. Yes, that was all there was to it…

Sighing yet again, Itachi opened his door. His lips twitched upward a bit at the sight before him. Sasuke was sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed, his head resting on his arm. He looked as though he were deep in thought…as well as slightly bored.

"Ne, Sasuke…" Screw it, Itachi would inform his brother about the situation later. Right now, he just wanted to spend some catch up time with his Otouto. "…What do you say to a sparring match?"

_**End Chapter**_

_**A/N: Not much to say abouth this chapter. Not that long…and sort of boring. But I like.**_

_**Thank you to:**_

Ellokin Niven (sorry nee-chan, I know Sasori's your man. But this is a YAOI fic. XD)

Loving91Rain (awww, love you too)

Perfect Dreams (yeah…I know…but Itachi IS amazing, let's not forget!)

HANAJIMA UCHIHA (thank you very much)

egglorru (Im sorry Im sorry Im sorry! Please don't hurt me! And good idea…!)

yaoi-midnight-mistress (heh heh heh…)

A Single Fragile Rose (Thank you)

norway22 (oh, you must have the same speech impediment as Deidara, **hmmm?** Lol thanks)

Seductive666Yaoi666Lover666 (thanks…wow, lots of 6's. O.o)


	12. Chapter 12: Sparring and the Snake

_**Chapter Twelve: Sparring and the Snake**_

Of course Sasuke had to agree to it.

He was still the same excitable child he was back before the massacre. Eager to learn and prove himself…eager to spend time with his Aniki…though at this point he would thoroughly deny it if he was asked. He did, after all, have the reputation of an avenger to uphold, ne?

The Uchihas exited the room quietly, into a large, dark hallway that seemed to stretch out in opposite directions. Sasuke didn't have a clue as to which he was supposed to go, so he opted to follow silently behind his brother. They walked for a while, their footsteps echoing loudly throughout the building.

Outside the sun was sitting high up in the sky, signaling afternoon. Moving from the dusky darkness of the hallway into the blindingly bright sunshine forced Sasuke to blink rapidly in an attempt to rid his sight of those annoying purple dots one sees when they've managed to screw up their retinas just a little bit more. So of course, knowing Sasuke's luck, he managed to bump into something. Or rather, someone. Itachi had stopped walking ahead of him, which led to the newly blinded boy's crash against his back.

A blush of embarrassment made itself at home on Sasuke's face when he heard Itachi's following chuckle. It sort of made him feel like a child, which he didn't really enjoy. But then again…Sasuke always _did_ love the sound of his brother's laugh. Pure music.

The Uchihas continued to walk through the forest that surrounded the Akatsuki hideout, looking for a decent place to spar. Soon they found it in a clearing about a mile away from the hideout. It was the perfect spot, and it radiated calmness in its silence.

They sparred for a very looonnnggg time. Afternoon turned to early evening, and _still_ they were at it.

Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this. He had always loved training with his aniki, though their time spent together was short and not frequent. It just…felt right to be near Itachi. Even now, when Sasuke _knew_ he shouldn't be around the man, shouldn't be goofing off with him. But…right now, none of that mattered. Itachi wasn't a murderer right now, and Sasuke wasn't an avenger. They were just two brothers who hadn't seen each other in a long time, spending time together, training.

After a while, Itachi decided to teach Sasuke a new fighting style he had taught himself…which meant showing him the new stances that were required for it. He had Sasuke try to execute said stances, and whenever he didn't get it quite right, Itachi would help him from behind by molding Sasuke's body with his. It was an innocent enough situation, after all they _were_ brothers, and it was the best way to teach someone something like this, Sasuke knew. But…for some reason, he couldn't wipe away the blush that appeared each time Itachi helped him. Sasuke told himself it was out of embarrassment because he had done something wrong, but there was a little voice in the back of his mind whispering that wasn't truly the case. Tch. Watever. Sasuke was just glad that it was dark enough outside that Itachi couldn't see the redness of his face.

The Uchihas decided that enough was enough around midnight, when the moon seemed to be watching, a silent audience to their training. They stopped mainly because Sasuke was practically dead on his feet. So, together they headed back to the hideout.

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Orochimaru was _extremely_ unhappy. Why? Because his _precious_ new little toy had disappeared.

Orochimaru had thoroughly enjoyed the time spent claiming said toy. He'd been blissed out. He'd gone to clean himself up, and when he'd returned, he found that the boy was gone. Immediately he'd sent Kabuto to find him. But…that was two **days** ago.

Now, something I'm sure you all know, Orochimaru wasn't exactly a very patient man. He _could_ be when he hat to, but…if it wasn't absolutely necessary, then he tended to be very fidgety and moody until he got whatever it is he wanted. And, in this case, patience _wasn't _a must. The snake sanin was rapidly becoming pissed off…

…Perhaps he would have to **punish** Sasuke…Orochimaru smirked at the thought.

Orochimaru was brought out of his…perverted…thoughts when none other than Kabuto Yakushi entered, quietly closing the room's double doors behind him. The medic nin then walked silently over to kneel before his master.

"Did you find him?" Orochimaru asked, trying to hide the eagerness in his slithery voice. "Yes, my lord," The grey headed man began, "…though I don't really think you'll be very happy to hear this…" At this, Orochimaru narrowed his glowing golden eyes. "And why is that, Kabuto?" The man tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair in tune with his words, eyes boring into the other's. "H-he's…" Kabuto stuttered, beginning to seriously fear for his life. He knew that his lord's tone of voice didn't bode well for him. "He's staying with his brother…at the Akatsuki Hideout."

Silence reigned for an endless moment before Orochimaru finally spoke, "…What?"

Without warning, the snake flung himself out of the throne-like chair he'd been sitting in and threw the cup of red wine he'd been drinking across the room to smash against the wall, leaving a steady trail of red liquid to drip down from the poor wall and pool on the carpet below, where it would no doubt leave an irreversible stain. Oh how the man wished it were blood instead.

"**You!"** Orochimaru growled, turning to jab a finger in Kabuto's chest, "Will **bring** him **back!** AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!"

Cringing away from the almost foaming at the mouth man, Kabuto nodded fearfully. "O-of course, my lord!"

Orochimaru nodded once. "good. Now **go!**" He watched as the medic nin fled the room, and sighed to himself. "My precious little toy, you cannot rid yourself of me so easily…"

_**End.**_

_**A/N: Ok, this chapter is COMPLETELY different from what I had planned. It feels like fate has decided to write ITSELF. Tch.**_

_**I hadn't really wanted to show Oro-bastard yet, but it just…HAPPENED that way. **_

_**Thank you to:**_

norway22

Bhel-Elryss

egglorru (LOL. Prostitute ninja. Heh. And…hey, it's my story, I'll make Pein nice if I wanna…-pout- but he IS creepy… and now, thanks to you, 'bear necessities is stuck in my head! XD)

Perfect Dreams

akatsukisunshine (uh…I don't think that's quite possible…but…thanks? lol)

yaoi-midnight-mistress

Challenged Snapping Paul

_**Next chapter: Sasuke's so exhausted that Itachi has to give him his bath!!! (no lemon, sorry.) Egglorru, thank you for the idea, and sorry I tweaked it a bit…**_

_**Haha, prostitute ninja.**_

_**Ja ne.**_


	13. Chapter 13: Do You Remember?

_**Chapter Thirteen: Do You Remember?**_

Itachi found it rather funny how Sasuke acted when he was exhausted. It was like watching a very, VERY drunk person trying to navigate their way down a straight path. Actually, it was sort of cute…

The two very beaten up, bruised excuses of Uchihas made it back to Itachi's room without much interruption. Not that Itachi was surprised…everyone was probably asleep by now. Except, maybe, for Hidan, but he didn't really matter at this point.

Sasuke collapsed on the bed as soon as they entered Itachi's room, much to the weasel's amusement. Deciding to be merciful, Itachi left him there, sprawled out with his face buried in the pillows. He went into the bathroom to turn on the large bathtub's water and wait for it to fill up. When it was at a decent level and temperature, Itachi poked his head into the bedroom. "Sasuke. Get up. Bathroom. We both need a bath." The only reply he received was a rather crude hand gesture in his general direction. At this, Itachi's eye began to twitch. '_little brat…'_ And then in a move that was completely unlike him, Itachi grinned evilly, grabbed his brother off the bed, and moved to dump him on the bathroom floor.

"WHAT THE HELL, ITACHI?!?!" The outraged exclamation was muffled, since Sasuke's face was currently buried in the small rug that lay beside the bathtub. Sasuke pulled his head up and spit out some fluffy string from the rug, glaring at the source of his sudden anger. He opened his mouth to tell Itachi off, but then sighed and closed it again. It wasn't worth the energy to engage in a verbal war right now.

With some amount of difficulty Sasuke stood, almost falling over in his weary clumsiness. He then looked up at his brother expectantly, waiting. This didn't go unnoticed by Itachi, who raised a questioning eyebrow at the younger male. "Well?" Sasuke asked impatiently, "Leave, so I can take a bath!"

Itachi inwardly rolled his eyes. "No. You can barely keep yourself from falling on your face. I'm going to help you." Knowing a protest was imminent, he began to strip himself of his clothing to try and silence them beforehand.

Sasuke blushed slightly and turned away from him, and began to undress as well. There wasn't any point in arguing, and the sooner he got this over with the sooner he could go to bed.

As he rid himself of his clothes, Sasuke's thoughts were brought back to happier days…when he was younger, more innocent. To days when he and Itachi were much closer. There had been times like this one now, where the two brothers would bathe together. Well…actually, it was more like, 'sit in opposite ends of the bathtub and try to drown each other'. Itachi may have been a good bit older then, and he may have been an ANBU at the time, but that could never stop him from spending precious time with his otouto…and trying to kill said younger brother with bath water.

Thinking of the many times both of them had almost coughed out a lung trying to rid themselves of invading water, Sasuke began to outright laugh. …Which caused the tired raven to lose his balance and fall up against the wall, making him laugh even harder. Itachi moved to steady his brother, smiling softly. "What's so funny, otouto?"

Sasuke wiped away a laugh induced tear and replied in a breathless voice, "Heh, j-just thinking about all those times I kicked your ass at water war when we were kids." Itachi smiled, shook his head, and ruffled the spiky hair that belonged to his younger brother. "you kick my ass? Hn, just keep telling yourself that, foolish little brother."

Sasuke glared at his brother. Well…he tried to, anyway. It's kind of hard to glare at someone when your concentration is focused on trying not to laugh…and failing. Badly.

Itachi shook his head in amusement, and slipped himself into the warm water. Sasuke followed suit, still sniggering.

'_Hn, little runt…'_ Itachi thought, inwardly grinning in his evil way, '_thinks he ever beat me. Well, I'll certainly show him…'_ and with that, he brought his outstretched hand away from him and slung it forward across the previously calm water with a loud **smack!** Water flew across the tub to splash Sasuke in the face, effectively silencing the boy's laughter.

"HEY! YOU BASTARD!" Sasuke yelled and immediately countered the attack with a giant splash of his own.

**DING DING DING!!! **The fight was ON!

Water splashed back and forth in a series of mini tsunamis. A good amount of it fell over the sides of the tub to puddle on the tiled floor. A poor, innocent ant that had clung to Sasuke's clothing and was currently climbing around on the floor was washed away to its watery doom amidst the chaos. Poor, poor little ant. May it rest in peace.

…

A few minutes later, Sasuke was done. He was overwhelmed by the amount of water his bastard of an older brother was managing to throw his way. It was a miracle that there was even a small bit of water left in the tub, and the poor guy felt like a drowned cat. He had to move, or he was gonna suffocate!

Trying in vain to breathe through the spray, Sasuke struggled to stand so he could exit the bathtub, only to slip on the ceramic floor and fall on his back, completely submerging himself and knocking the back of his head on the ground.

Ouch.

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Naruto Uzumaki was walking down the streets of Konoha toward his apartment. He'd just left one of his most favorite places in the world: the Ichiraku Ramen shop. He had his prize of ten steaming to-go bowls of miso ramen (his favorite) in hand. Oh yeah, he was gonna feast.

"NARUTO!!!"

_'eh?'_ Naruto turned to see a bubblegum pink haired kunoichi running toward him, waving frantically. She stopped when she was right in front of him, and bent over in attempt to gain back her breath.

"Hey Sakura! What's up?" Naruto asked in his normal, cheerful voice, "you ok?" Sakura nodded her reply. "Lady Tsunade…" **gasp, wheeze** "wants to see us. She says…she says it's about Sasuke!"

Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of his former teammate's name. _'Sasuke?'_ Quickly he unlocked the door to his apartment, set his precious ramen down just inside the door, then closed in relocked it. "Alright," he said in his 'determined' voice, "Then what are we waiting for??? Let's go!" Sakura nodded, and the two ninja disappeared in a flicker of motion.

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When Itachi saw his little brother fall under the water, he panicked. He moved from his sitting position to lean over and see if Sasuke was ok, just as…

**BAMF!!!**

…Just as Sasuke sat up, knocking their heads together.

"Ow, damnit!" Sasuke hissed, rubbing his sore forehead, "That fucking HURT…" his voice trailed off as he became aware of the closeness between his Itachi and himself, and, to his own mortification, a blush made its annoying way onto his face. He could feel it. "U-uhm…"

An awkward silence filled the room, deafeningly loud in its own right.

Sasuke knew he should do something. He should move away, tell Itachi to back off…something. But…oh God, he couldn't look away from those ebony eyes that almost seemed to burn with the intensity of the look they were giving him. Sasuke's mouth went dry, and he felt like he was being pulled toward Itachi, almost as if it were the work of gravity. And, oddly enough, Itachi seemed to feel the same way.

Sasuke's breath left him in a quiet hiss as he watched his brother's beautiful-almost 'pretty'-features. Normally, Itachi's face was a blank mask. No form of emotion ever managed to slip past his cold façade. It was one of the many things that made him such a perfect ninja, and why it was so easy for people to be afraid of him. But now…gazing at Itachi's face was like reading an open book. The pages of his emotions were flipping rapidly: amusement, concern. And others, ones that Sasuke couldn't identify but made his body seem to tingle…to burn. Oh fuck, they made him feel so damn _weak_…but he liked it…Sasuke was grateful that he wasn't standing, because he knew his knees would have buckled by now.

Agonizingly slowly, not quite sure of what he was doing, Sasuke edged closer to the object of his fascination. He was so close…close to what? Close to feeling those perfect lips on his own. Close to…

"Itachi-san!" The shout was followed by three rapid knocks on the bedroom door. "Leader said to tell you to come see him first thing in the morning, and to bring the brat!"

And with that, the spell was broken. Itachi backed away from Sasuke, clearing his throat. "Understood, Kisame," he said in a slightly husky voice, before standing. He stepped out of the bathtub onto the soaked tiles and wrapped a towel around his waist, grabbing another from the shelf over the toilet and handing it out to his dazed little brother. "Come on, Sasuke. Time for bed."

The younger shook his head to clear his thoughts _**(A/N:ahem, like the 'bed? Sure, I'd love for you to take me to bed…' one. Mind out of the gutter, Sasuke!!!)**_ and took the fluffy thing from him, and watched as he left the room, probably to dress for bed.

Quietly, Sasuke dressed himself in the bathroom before following his brother. When he entered the bedroom, his eyes locked with Itachi's and a single thought ran through his poor mind. _'What the __**HELL**__ did I just get myself into?!'_

*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

_'What the __**HELL**__ did I just get myself into?!' _Itachi thought, inwardly growling at himself as he watched his little brother look away and move toward the bed.

Exactly what had he gotten himself into? This had all just started out as a game. An innocent game. Itachi teasing Sasuke (not sexually!), and Sasuke teasing back. It'd been so much fun, so _relaxing_ to just let go for once, to allow himself to remove his mask and show himself. It was almost intoxicating to mess around one with one of the oh so few people in the world that Itachi actually cared about, and to not be judged about it or looked down apon.

And then Sasuke fell into the water. Itachi had moved to see if the spiky haired boy was ok. After all, he was-and this was a very well kept secret, known only by Itachi and his deceased mother-a bit on the clumsy side. Oh yes, Sasuke was very good at hiding it, training especially hard to gain some sort of grace in his practiced movements. The boy almost managed to succeed in getting rid of it, but…sometimes it came back to bite him in the ass. You can't always hide something like that behind learned behaviors. Itachi found it to be rather cute…secretly.

Itachi's forehead was still sore from when Sasuke'd shot up from the water. He wasn't gonna lie, that had hurt like a bitch. But…that wasn't the part that Itachi's evil mind apparently wanted to remember. Nooo, instead it preferred to linger on the way that Sasuke's eyes seemed to _devour_ him, body and soul…

Oh, God, now was not the time, and it sure as hell wasn't the place to be thinking this way. '_MIND! YOU ARE HEREBY EVICTED FROM THE GUTTER!!!'_

Itachi cleared his throat, and spoke, "I've been staying with another Akatsuki member since you've…become my guest. I think I've overstayed my welcome, and my host is rather…annoying…so, I'm going to sleep with yo-um, I'm sleeping here tonight." With that, he climbed unceremoniously into one side of the bed and lay down. When he felt his brother hesitantly slide in on the other side, he reached over and switched off the bedside lamp and waited for sleep to claim him.

_**End Chapter.**_

_**A/N: No, I'm not dead. I promise. Nikke, put away the alchohol and stop the plans for my funeral.**_

_**I apologize for the late update…I don't really have a lot of exuses. Sure, there was a bunch of camping trips and stuff, but I could have at least wrote on PAPER. –sigh-. Really, my only defense is a slight case of writer's block. Other than that, it's pure laziness. But I'm back. I refuse to give up on this story!!!**_

_**I bet you can't guess who Itachi's "host" was! And I'm patting myself on the back right now, because this chapter broke 2000 words! (not including the author notes…)**_

_**Thank you to:**_

egglorru (as always. Hmmmm…I might just have to USE that idea…-evil grin of DOOOM!!!-)

XxxnarusasuxxX

yaoi-midnight-mistress

Jessica-Uchiha123

Perfect Dreams (Mehbe…mehbe not –wink wink- ;D)

SemeSideOfThePaddle (thank you very much! By the way…haha on the username, I love it :D)

akatsukisunshine (rainbow…army? Are you high…? Lol, just kidding)

xxbrokenheartedangelxx

Fallen star that finds light

MDarKspIrIt

…_**for your reviews. You guys ROCK!!!**_

_**Oh, hey, if any of you like the anime Spirited Away, check out **_Snowcloud_**'s amazing fanfic, **_Fade Away_**! It's awesome!!! And to top that off, she added me in as a character!!! Look out for the girl named Kiyashi Hatamura in the chapters when Chihiro goes on her adventure!!! Hee…**_

_**Next Chapter: What could Pein possibly want? And it's time: Sasuke's decision!!! And on top of that, now the Leaf's onto Sasuke…especially a hyperactive, orange wearing ninja!!! Oh dear…a lot for me to write…I guess I'd better get started…**_

_**Ja ne!**_


	14. Important Note

_**A/N: Hello and welcome back to Fate. It's nice to see you all again…if you're even still paying attention to this after the last two years of, well, absolutely nothing from an author's block ridden authoress. **_

_**I'm sorry, guys. I know this wasn't fair to any of you….But when I look back at Fate, I see all the crap wrong with it and I just want to throw my laptop. I've tried rewriting it, but every time I start I just get mad at myself for ever posting this holy terror of a fanfiction. I must have been high or something (even though I've never purposely done anything to GET high…) **_

_**This is not to say that I'm discontinuing Fate. I always hated it when my favorite fics were put on hold or just completely stop working on it entirely. SO. Here's my compromise. I really, REALLY need a beta to help me fix this thing up. I'm not asking for too much, you don't have to be a God/Goddess at your job… I just want this massive shadow of shame and self-disgust to stop looming over me so I can get back to writing a fic I used to be so fond of…**_

_**If you're interested in the aforementioned beta job, either review, PM me, or send an email to **_kissmekillme1993 Hotmail . com _**(without spaces)**_

_**Thank you, and I hope to see you all here again soon with the next chapter of Fate. Until then, I've begun a rather interesting Fullmetal Alchemist fic that's been itching to be written for quite a while. Keep an eye out for that one to appear soon, okay? **_

_**Ja.**_


	15. the last authors note before story time!

_**An: I would like to say thank you for all the feedback I've gotten on the beta request. Things are going well, and if lucky, I should be back in the chapter business (with a refurbished fate) in no time! Thank you all for being patient with me, and I hope you wil enjoy fate just as much if not more once the rewrite process is through.**_

_**Also, on a side note, to the anonymous reviewer who rudely reviewed, if you don't like the way I set up my story, stop reading. Simple as that. Also, next time have the huevos to at least log in, kay?**_

_**I bid you all adieu, and wish me and the story luck, please.**_


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